November 2022 Songs for Christmas
Below is the text from the review by Myra Smith published in the online Manawatu Standard on November 28.
“Rejoice, Rejoice … (Choral Music returns to St Andrews)”. This opening refrain, sung by choristers and audience together on Saturday evening, fittingly announced both the 2022 Advent season and the return of choral singing to Pathways Presbyterian Church at St Andrews.
It has been over five years since St Andrews was closed to public use.
As well as external strengthening the completed project has entailed considerable interior refurbishments, to make the spaces more flexible and welcoming for community use.
Palmerston North Choral Society was delighted to present the first choral performance in this lovely venue.
Musical director Alison Stewart chose a particularly thoughtful programme of Christmas choral music, loosely following the Biblical narrative.
The choir began with a suitably rousing ‘’Christians be Joyful’’, by the great J.S. Bach. The atmosphere soon changed however as the women of the choir effectively evoked a still cold landscape in ‘‘The Time of Snow’’ by Bob Chilcott.
The piano accompaniment lent particular poignancy to this lovely carol. The choir then relaxed comfortably into the calm regular lilt of ‘‘Lullay’’ by Karl Jenkins.
Irregular rhythms in the subsequent ‘’Of a Rose’’ were the cause of some hesitancy in entries.
A rich warm alto sound was featured in an interesting arrangement of ‘’Silent Night’’ while the gentlemen of the choir continued with enthusiasm in ‘’Follow that Star’’.
‘‘Light of lights’’, by Aotearoa’s own Jenny McLeod, was particularly successful, with full cohesive choral sound and a real message for our times.
‘Bethlehem Down’’ by Peter Warlock was a new carol to many, with some unexpected but enchanting harmonies.
The audience responded with delight to the women’s performance of ‘‘Fum Fum Fum’’ – an arranged Spanish carol.
The choral programme fittingly concluded with strong affirmation in Bach’s chorale from the cantata ‘‘Wachet Auf (Sleepers Awake)”.
Instrumental support for the choir was expertly provided throughout by Roy Tankersley on piano and organ.
Two seasonal organ solos were interspersed among the choir items. The audience warmed to the variety of instrumental colours Tankersley skilfully selected. It was a joy to hear this beautiful instrument once again.
Choirs around the world are now re-building, after some brutally difficult years. Our choral society is gaining numbers again and is proud to have maintained meaningful choral learning and performances for its members, and audiences, throughout this year.
There were many comments of appreciation as the audience entered the new space for the first time.
It was evident when choir, audience and organ all joined together, concluding the concert with ‘’O Come all ye Faithful’’, it was a grand celebration of the return of this venue for the whole community.
A soaring soprano descant said it all.
June 2021 Puoro o te Ngakau – Music of the Heart
Below is the text from the review by Karen Carter published in the Manawatu Standard on June 29
In their sesquicentennial concert, the Palmerston North Choral Society moved in a new programming direction.
Embracing a bi-cultural collaboration with Warren and Virginia Warbrick, who perform as Toi Warbrick, the concert interwove diverse strands of local moments in history, presented from different perspectives.
The programme was accessible, with the songs appealing to a broad audience and with lyrics that resonated, as they told snippets of ‘our’ story – the thread that united the works.
This was a performance where a lot of careful thought, planning and preparation were evident.
From the opening call, the chants with their quarter tones and falling phrase ends, the evocative sounds of taonga pῡoro, the strength of the solo voices, to the depth of the harmonies added by the choir, it was a brave and effective presentation, creating an exciting performance synergy.
The choir was well-rehearsed and performed with enjoyment, but it was the soloists who stole the day with commanding performances.
Toi Warbrick are skilled in engaging the listener and creating atmosphere, while baritone Lindsay Yeo brought out the humour and emotion of the lyrics through the quirk of an eyebrow, a smile or a small gesture.
This was truly a concert which was about us and which came from the heart – bravo.
The concert was also reviewed by Judith Lacy in the Manwatu Guardian on July 1.
March 2021 Music For Good Friday Concert
Below is the text from the review by Judith Lacy published in the Manawatu Guardian on March 29
Much is made of Palmy’s cultural diversity and you couldn’t get more diverse than walking to a church to hear Latin be sung with the sound of roaring stockcars in your ears.
Confession: I’m not the right person to review a choral performance but those with the prerequisites were not available on Saturday night so I decided to approach it from an educational experience.
My first lesson was how many people enjoy this music with St Peter’s Church nearly full – and not all the concertgoers were over 70. The hearty and lengthy applause at the end showed they had enjoyed the 60 minutes of music that tells of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his mother Mary’s sorrow.
While some of the music was by long-dead composers Bach, Handel and Mozart, there were also works of men still living, including Sir Karl Jenkins.
Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer Jenkins’ adaptation of 13th-century Latin poem Stabat Mater was a highlight. Sancta Mater (Holy Mother) with voice and organ was both uplifting and moving.
Jenkins’ And the Mother Did Weep, also from Stabat Mater, was in English not Latin. You could almost feel the anguish of Mary and while the lyrics are repetitive, each was delivered differently and with skill.
The men singing Behold and See from Handel’s Messiah provided a refreshing change of range and were particularly crisp.
The concert was a chance to reflect on the meaning of Easter for Christians. Yes, hot cross buns appear in supermarkets ridiculously early these days, but there is not the same hype for Easter as Christmas. However, Easter is the most important festival on the Christian calendar and the choral society’s selection of music conveyed the intense emotions of Good Friday.
I prefer lyrics I can understand but there’s always something spiritual about mass voices, especially such well-practised ones under the direction of Alison Stewart, and my right foot surprised me with its toe tapping. Closing my eyes intensified the experience of the about 50 voices.
It was fantastic to have someone of Douglas Mews’ calibre on the organ; pipes of all sorts were going off in Palmy on Saturday night.
The choral society’s next concert on June 26 featuring the music of New Zealand composers promises to be completely different. I’d like to see the names of all the chorus members listed in the programme then.
The concert was also reviewed by Virginia Warbrick in the Manwatu Standard on March 31.
2019 Messiah Concert
Review of Handel’s Messiah, Palmerston North Choral Society, Regent on Broadway, Saturday November 30.
By Malcolm Hopwood.
Published in Manawatu Standard on 2nd December, 2019
When the Palmerston North Choral Society sang the Amen Chorus from Messiah, the audience rose to its feet. Saturday night’s centennial Messiah deserved the generous ovation.
The society, conducted by Alison Stewart, gave an impressive performance, accompanied by members of the Manawatu Sinfonia. The 70-strong choir sang with precision. They were tuneful, blended well and attentive. There were times when the tenors lacked punch and the sopranos were vocally stretched, but they knew their music and delivered a quality sound to a large audience.
Stewart deserves special praise for achieving the delicate balance between the singers and the Handelian orchestra, led by Gillian Gibb. Glory to God, And with His Stripes, Hallelujah, Worthy Is The Lamb and Amen were satisfying and secure. The choir was challenged when delivering the more extreme contrapuntal choruses. The sinfonia produced a pure sound with accuracy and clarity from the strings. There was an occasional uncertain entry, but overall it was a convincing performance.
I enjoyed the rapport between cello continuo, Sasha Routh, and bassoons. Janey Mackenzie sang Come Unto Him with e|ortless grace, while David Morriss’s sonorous People That Walked In Darkness exposed his soul as well as his voice. He had an inspired connection with brilliant trumpeter, Hiro Kobayashi, in The Trumpet Shall Sound. Ellen Barrett gave a sincere and expressive He Was Despised, and John Beaglehole had a clean and dexterous baroque voice. Stewart, almost minimalist at times with her conducting, delivered an assured performance, worthy of a society celebrating its centenary.
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